New gun facility to boost shooters' options in Loveland area

This artist s rendering shows what the new Liberty Firearms Institute facility could look like when it s built at the corner of Thompson Parkway and Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Johnstown next year.
(
Special to the Reporter-Herald
)

LOVELAND -- Before long, shooting enthusiasts will have the choice of six Loveland-area stores east of U.S. 287 where they can buy guns, and two large indoor shooting ranges.

The Johnstown Town Council's approval this week of the Liberty Firearms Institute's proposed 100,000-square-foot facility increases the options for shooters.

The owners of USA Liberty Arms, a gun store in east Fort Collins, plan to build a one-stop shop for shooters in Johnstown's 2534 development southeast of the Interstate 25-U.S. 34 interchange.

The facility will feature a gun store, classrooms, a restaurant and offices on the 50,000-square-foot main floor and a shooting range of 50 to 60 lanes underground.

"It's fair to say it's the largest in the state," said Tracey Ryk, a Realtor with The Group in Fort Collins who has been working with USA Liberty Arms' owners to bring the project to fruition.

In fact, the new range could be one of the largest in the country, although Ryk wasn't sure about that.

Just 41/2 miles to the west, Front Range Gun Club, Loveland's existing indoor shooting range at 697 N. Denver Ave., is expanding from 15 to 25 lanes, making it for a short time the largest in Colorado.

Liberty Firearms Institute's owners hope to have their facility open by this time next year, Ryk said, on a 7.8-acre lot at the southeast corner of Thompson Parkway and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.

Bass Pro Shops

Across U.S. 34 to the north, Loveland developer McWhinney has announced that Bass Pro Shops will build one of its 117,000-square-foot stores selling all manner of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear.

Bass Pro Shops had planned to open late this year, but a packed calendar of store launches around the country has delayed that, according to McWhinney.

"The Loveland store is still a sure thing, and yes, we are very excited about it," Bass Pro Shops spokeswoman Katie Mitchell said Wednesday.

But she couldn't provide a hint about a new opening date.

Also in the Centerra development, Dick's Sporting Goods sells rifles, shotguns and ammunition.

And then there's the northwest quadrant of the highway interchange, where Sportsman's Warehouse has been operating for 12 years in the Marketplace at Centerra.

Add in the east Loveland Walmart, 1325 N. Denver Ave., and Jax Outdoor Gear Ranch & Home, 950 E. Eisenhower Blvd., and shooters will have six shopping options on the east side of town, not counting several other gun retailers in the Loveland area.

Central Location

Ryk said Liberty Firearms Institute's choice of the Johnstown corner was all about location - half a million people live within 20 miles of the development, according to the property owner selling 29 acres to Liberty.

The imminent arrival of Bass Pro Shops nearby didn't play into the decision to land in that spot, Ryk said, "but they will complement each other beautifully."

In a document presented to Johnstown officials, Liberty Firearms Institute's developers said the business will become a destination, providing a single location where people can buy a gun, attend training classes to learn how to use it, obtain concealed-carry certification and practice shooting.

Front Range Gun Club co-owner Ed Klen said his business provides those same services and has a list of a few hundred people waiting to become members.

"There's definitely a need for a little bit more," he said, prompting his gun range's planned October expansion.

Dennis Smith, a lifelong hunter and fisherman who writes an outdoors column for the Reporter-Herald, said the proliferation of shooting-related businesses in the area plays into the new enthusiasm for the sport.

"Interest in shooting sports has gone absolutely crazy in the last eight or nine years," he said.

Smith said he expects the new firearms facility to be popular. "I suspect that it's going to be a big draw from around the state."

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